A ridiculous decision. Nobody can say with absolute certainty from the video footage that he bit Slater. There is not one single piece of footage or photograph that clearly shows he did it. This strikes me as a 'balance of probability' guilty decision, but to then hand out a 12 game ban on the strength of that is ridiculous. It seems that he's paying the price for it being in a Grand Final and involving one of the golden boys of Aussie RL. Had it been in a weekly round and involved an average journeyman player there wouldn't have been half the fuss.

Also, why no inquiry into Slater's part in it ? If Graham bit him then I wonder what Slater did to provoke it - Graham has never been a dirty player and this is very out of character so what was it a reaction to ?

Serious? Slater did absolutely nothing wrong in the whole "shimozzle". He was unjustly rough-housed at least twice even before Graham got a hold of him.

I'm with Oracle. Despicable, cowardly act and I'm going to find it very, very hard to root for him in an England shirt again. And I suspect it has effectively ended his NRL career. Very tough to deal with the stigma of that now, I would think. And rightly so.

As for evidence, Slater made the allegation instantly, there was apparently blood and the pictures don't look good for Graham. What more do you want?

A ridiculous decision. Nobody can say with absolute certainty from the video footage that he bit Slater. There is not one single piece of footage or photograph that clearly shows he did it. This strikes me as a 'balance of probability' guilty decision, but to then hand out a 12 game ban on the strength of that is ridiculous. It seems that he's paying the price for it being in a Grand Final and involving one of the golden boys of Aussie RL. Had it been in a weekly round and involved an average journeyman player there wouldn't have been half the fuss.

Also, why no inquiry into Slater's part in it ? If Graham bit him then I wonder what Slater did to provoke it - Graham has never been a dirty player and this is very out of character so what was it a reaction to ?

Yeah, no evidence except for the footage of him gnawing on the side of Slater's head and this picture. Immediately after the event, the refs all looked at his ear and Archer put it on report. He even said "We've all seen the damage?"

Yeah, no evidence except for the footage of him gnawing on the side of Slater's head and this picture. Immediately after the event, the refs all looked at his ear and Archer put it on report. He even said "We've all seen the damage?"

The footage shows nothing of the sort. It shows Graham's mouth close to Slater's head but it does not at any stage show him biting Slater.

Serious? Slater did absolutely nothing wrong in the whole "shimozzle". He was unjustly rough-housed at least twice even before Graham got a hold of him.

I'm with Oracle. Despicable, cowardly act and I'm going to find it very, very hard to root for him in an England shirt again. And I suspect it has effectively ended his NRL career. Very tough to deal with the stigma of that now, I would think. And rightly so.

As for evidence, Slater made the allegation instantly, there was apparently blood and the pictures don't look good for Graham. What more do you want?

McNamarra should now remove him from the England squad so that someone else can have a shot during the interntationals. No point having a player in the squad who cant play - give Luke Burgess a chance, played constistantly for the bunnies this season. Would also prevent those matches being counted in his 12 match ban, therefore we wouldnt see him return till round 11 of the NRL season.

The footage shows nothing of the sort. It shows Graham's mouth close to Slater's head but it does not at any stage show him biting Slater.

I suppose that's the whole thing with a bite to the ear though, isn't it? It's tough to show categorically that a bite is taking place, which makes it the ideal kind of assault for a coward like James Graham.

If you honestly look at the body of evidence and say he hasn't bitten him then I find that mystifying but each to their own.

He's had a brain explosion for sure as this is way out of character. A right ginger whinger occasionally but he's properly lost the plot on this one.

He should have just held his hands up and said he did it and he didn't know what came over him and then take the 12 match ban they'd have dished out anyway. He claw back a modicum of self respect that way.

But some hysterical rubbish on here- 12 month bans, he'll be home next year etc.

If he hadn't have done this, everyone would be saying just how good a season he's had in the NRL. He would have been in the running for NRL Dally M Prop of the year but that will be pulled now.

He'll learn and move on as should all- an example of this is Andrew Johns. After the disgrace he brought on himself and the game he's now been voted an Immortal!

Grahams had a brain fart, should take the punishment on the chin (even though its over the top in my opinion) and get his head down and get no with being one of the best forwards in the NRL. Made a mistake as have many.

He's had a brain explosion for sure as this is way out of character. A right ginger whinger occasionally but he's properly lost the plot on this one.

He should have just held his hands up and said he did it and he didn't know what came over him and then take the 12 match ban they'd have dished out anyway. He claw back a modicum of self respect that way.

But some hysterical rubbish on here- 12 month bans, he'll be home next year etc.

If he hadn't have done this, everyone would be saying just how good a season he's had in the NRL. He would have been in the running for NRL Dally M Prop of the year but that will be pulled now.

He'll learn and move on as should all- an example of this is Andrew Johns. After the disgrace he brought on himself and the game he's now been voted an Immortal!

The Dally M awards were a few weeks ago and he was not in the running for Prop of the year award.Prop: Sam Kasiano (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs) Nominations:Aaron Woods (WST)Sam Kasiano (CBY)James Tamou (NQL)

Grahams had a brain fart, should take the punishment on the chin (even though its over the top in my opinion) and get his head down and get no with being one of the best forwards in the NRL. Made a mistake as have many.

the best post on the thread - reasoned and without ridiculous emotion attached

Now then, it's a race between Sandie....and Fairburn....and the little man is in........yeees he's in.

I, just like those Castleford supporters felt that the ball should have gone to David Plange but he put the bit betwen his teeth...and it was a try

Kevin Ward - best player I have ever seen

The real Mick Gledhill is what you see on here, a Bradford fan ........, but deep down knows that Bradford are just not good enough to challenge the likes of Leeds & St Helens.

He will be back in SL sooner than expected I suspect, these things are hard to live down in the NRL.

Too good for the NRL?

The Dally M awards were a few weeks ago and he was not in the running for Prop of the year award.Prop: Sam Kasiano (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs) Nominations:Aaron Woods (WST)Sam Kasiano (CBY)James Tamou (NQL)

Yeah, no evidence except for the footage of him gnawing on the side of Slater's head and this picture. Immediately after the event, the refs all looked at his ear and Archer put it on report. He even said "We've all seen the damage?"

Just a question.

If someone came running in from say 5m away and landed a solid punch on the ear, could it result in a mark to the ear and bleeding. I'm sure it would result in a fair bit of redness.

I only ask because if you go back to the start of the brawl, Slater is involved with someone else when from right of screen a Bulldogs player comes in and knocks Slater off his feet, sending him backwards several feet towards the hoardings. My impression is this was Graham, and it looks to me like he could have connected with a fist to the side of the head.

Ultimately only Jammer and Slater know what really happened but I'm pretty certain Graham is the kind of guy who would put his hand up and plead guilty if he did indeed do it. It would frankly be stupid to plead not guilty to such an offence if he did do it, and I'm sure the club would have advised him so. Of course if he did have a brain explosion and took a nibble, then he deserves all he's given.

A ridiculous decision. Nobody can say with absolute certainty from the video footage that he bit Slater. There is not one single piece of footage or photograph that clearly shows he did it. This strikes me as a 'balance of probability' guilty decision, but to then hand out a 12 game ban on the strength of that is ridiculous. It seems that he's paying the price for it being in a Grand Final and involving one of the golden boys of Aussie RL. Had it been in a weekly round and involved an average journeyman player there wouldn't have been half the fuss.

Also, why no inquiry into Slater's part in it ? If Graham bit him then I wonder what Slater did to provoke it - Graham has never been a dirty player and this is very out of character so what was it a reaction to ?

Guessing you didn't see the game then, or the replays of the incident.

Were you abused by an Australian Mate?Plenty Of Englishmen have been rated by Aussies, Hanley, Ward, Morley, Widdop, Ellis........You need to get that chip of your shoulder its getting bigger than your Head.

I'd agree with Derwent on this. I don't feel there is conclusive evidence that he did bite him (and I did watch the match), there no doubt was contact of some sort, but I couldn't conclusively say he bit him. But he's got a 12 match ban so he'll just have to take the punishment and move on. All the talk on here of 12 month bans, and leaving the NRL in disgrace is utter ######.

The video looks like Graham went in for a bite but it isn't close up enough to be conclusive.

But I still think he was acting the tw*t shoving Slater and the first place and engaging in the brawl. With the evidence being inconclusive I think I would have banned him for fewer matches. if he did bite him it's pathetic. Still one of England's best props though.